Anti-Gay Adoption Bill Dies In Illinois Senate

An Illinois Senate committee on
Wednesday killed a bill that sought to allow religious adoption
agencies to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples, the
Huffington Post reported.

Democratic Senator David Koehler of
Springfield said his bill was a promise kept to his constituents.

“It was not my intention to force
groups to work against their beliefs,” Koehler told the Chicago
Tribune.

Illinois will officially begin
recognizing gay couples on June 1, the day a civil unions law
approved by lawmakers in December comes online.

Koehler's measure sought to amend the
civil unions law to allow religious institutions to “decline an
adoption or foster family home application” to a couple “if
acceptance of that application would constitute a violation of the
organization's sincerely held religious beliefs.”

With a narrow 7 to 6 vote, the Senate
Executive Committee rejected the bill.

“This is a huge victory for the LGBTQ
community and families across Illinois,” Anthony Martinez,
executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), said in a
statement. “This is also a huge win for the tens of thousands of
children that are in the adoption and foster system and need loving
families.”